I took a break from LinkedIn these last few months. During this quiet time, I have been sent quite a few connection requests accompanied with messages such as:

Great connecting with you Marcy. Hope your day is going well. Are you accepting new clients?

Between persistence and annoyance. I fear I may have crossed that line. Based on your silence, I’m assuming you’re not interested in learning more about our services. If I’ve misread you, please let me know. A referral would be very kind.

After reaching out to you so many times and not hearing anything, I was wondering if any of these options are true?

I am trapped in another dimension and I need you to send help.

We don’t need anymore deals to chase.

I am just too darn busy with other priorities, contact me in 3 weeks when I can breathe.

I have been struggling to secure the fate of our planet, but can’t wait to try out the (service/product).

They all sound familiar. Not effective but boringly familiar.

I should know.

I have used variations of these for far too long. (Well, not the last one). It’t the LinkedIn version of the cold call: call enough people and someone will respond.

I’ve sent this messages when I was too lazy to remember what Joe taught me years ago,

I started my professional life in commercial design and dealt with a lot of vendors. But none like Joe. He stopped by my office late one afternoon to pitch me on his company’s products. I was distracted, grappling with a problem for a client and mentioned that I could not find an adequate solution. Now note, this problem had nothing to do with the field this man was in.

The next morning, Joe came to my office to share with me a report he had found that could be used as a creative solution to my clients challenge. I was amazed that Joe, a successful regional sales manager, had taken the time to help me (I was not a client) help my client (who did not need his product) with a problem (that had nothing to do with his line).

Joe understood what I and each of the people who sent me these InMail messages forgot: To sell a product, find the target markets and tailor the sale to the market. To sell a service, a platform, a solution do your research on the company, their customer base, understand their pain points or their growth opportunities before sending the InMail. Joe learned a lot that night about my business, my customer base and our solution based approach and for that evening of research, he became a trusted vendor for years.

I am currently consulting with a company that is looking to build a digital platform for it’s offline business. I have sat in on numerous vendor calls and heard some reps go on about their product, some about their exemplary customer support and two who spent the first meeting asking insightful questions, who came back with a customized solution.

Guess which one got the contract?

So to all of you that had your inbox flooded with my messages, I apologize.

My note: We all speak in front of people all day long. Sometimes it’s in front of 500, sometimes at an audience of one, often a customer. Item #3 “Tell a Story” can be tweaked to Tell YOUR Story; Your story includes your elevator pitch (30 second response to “What do you do?”, your opening line when you speak to a customer, your business tag line or how you answer the phone). It’s your story..own it!

Source: The ‘World Champion of Public Speaking,’ Who Beat 30,000 People for the Title

There’s a teacher in Houston who started going to Toastmasters events a few years ago.

Her name is Ramona J. Smith, and it turns out she has a knack for public speaking.

So much so that she beat out 30,000 other public speakers in a competition to be named “World Champion of Public Speaking,” at the group’s international convention in Chicago last month. (For the first time, women won the first, second, and third prizes.)

If you check out the speech she gave to win the competition (embedded below), it’s clear that for someone like Smith, public speaking is more than simply giving a talk. It’s more like acting in a performance.

I talked with Smith this week in between the classes she teaches at MacArthur High School in Houston, and we went through her top public speaking tips for anyone who has to stand in front of a group and hold attention. Here’s her best advice:

1. Be yourself.

Rule number one, Smith said, and by far the most important: Be yourself, be authentic, and share onstage.

“I think a lot of people go into speaking trying to emulate someone else,” she said. But “there’s only one Les Brown. There’s only one Tony Robbins. There’s only one Wayne Dyer. Be yourself. Be authentic.”

In Smith’s case, her entire winning speech is basically about the failures she’s had in her life: dropping out of college four times, and being in a marriage that lasted just eight months, for example. That vulnerability, even though she doesn’t go into details, clearly endears the audience to her.

“I feel like that’s another reason why three women won. Because we were ourselves,” she said. “We didn’t try to be anything other than exactly what we were.”

2. Study the greats.

Don’t copy them; you won’t do what they do as well as they do. But do watch and take lessons. Smith said she watched all of the finalists and other top competitors from prior years, and also spent a lot of time watching and breaking down how others she respects give speeches.

“I was watching,” she said. “I was taking notes. I was not trying to emulate, but I was taking notes of the little things, the meticulous things, the pauses, the body language. Even the catchy phrases. The phrase that pays is something that you need.”

3. Tell a story.

Everything is a story if it’s told well. And we respond to stories. We don’t respond as well to lectures and prescriptions.

“When you can paint a picture for someone, they’ll be able to visualize it, and they’ll be able to connect with you more,” she told me. “Instead of saying something like, ‘The dog was red,’ you can say, ‘That little energetic pup was the color of merlot.'”

As a writer, we say, “Show, don’t tell.” But when you do tell, tell it well.

4. Practice, practice, practice.

This goes two ways: Practice speaking in general, and practice your particular speech.

In Smith’s case, she actually changed and wrote her winning speech literally the night before–after giving another speech throughout the earlier stages of the competition. (That one was about feeling like an imposter.)

“I was pacing the halls of the Marriott Marquis at 4 a.m., looking crazy in my pajamas,” Smith told me. “I’m up at 4 in the morning, practicing for hours and hours and hours and hours. Until I have a moment. I had a Tiffany Haddish moment: ‘She ready.'”

5. Get feedback.

Some of us think we walk on water; others are our own worst critics. But what none of us has is the perspective of what it’s like to watch and listen to ourselves.

“At Toastmasters, you’re assigned an evaluator. Every time you give a prepared speech at Toastmasters, it’s evaluated,” she said.

With her new speech, Smith told me she was up half the night beforehand, practicing it for her district leader and getting feedback.

6. Control your visuals.

Never bring anything onstage that unintentionally distracts from your message. So for her winning speech, Smith wore an attractive but understated dark jacket and black heels. She looked good, but her audience naturally focused on her message–not her appearance.

“If you have on a shirt with someone’s face, they’re probably gonna be staring at the face,” she said. “If you have a shirt where you have a lot of cleavage showing for women, it might take away from the speech. Because women are gonna be like, ‘Why did she wear that?’ And men are gonna be like, ‘Oh, I’m so glad she wore that.'”

In other words: Live or die on your speech itself, not on distractions.

7. Control your voice

Similar in a way to controlling your appearance: Control your voice. Ensure that you don’t distract, but also vary your vocal delivery.

‘FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT’…OR TILL YOU OWN IT!

I work with business owners some who want to launch a new venture, some who want to expand their business and although they are at different stages, they often share a common challenge. Running and starting a business in today’s climate is challenging: it isn’t enough to open a storefront, put up a sign, print business cards and place an ad in the newspaper. Today’s entrepreneur needs to have a MBA in finance, a degree from MIT in technology and a Masters in marketing and social media.

This challenges give business owners pause, fills them with uncertainty and too often prompts them to hire a host of advisers or veer away from their plan.

No, you don’t need these degrees but to start/grow a business but you need to believe that you can pull it off. And you need to convince your employees, employers, customers and the world that you can pull it off.

It’s hard but sometimes , you need to ‘Fake It Till You Make It’ or “Fake It Till You Own It’. Amy Cuddy proposes in this video that it could take 2 minutes to pull this off

If I asked you to guess which company had the third most popular app and was fast implementing new technologies that their customers are lining up for, enhancing their customer experience, who would you guess?

Amazon?

Starbucks?

Uber?

Nope. Scroll down……..

McDonalds.

Over the next year, customers will be able to go to any McDonald’s around the country and order directly from one of their new in store kiosks, after which they can then pick up their food at a counter or wait on an employee to bring the meal directly to the table.

It makes sense since when you really think about it, McDonalds is in the convenience business. People eat there because they don’t have time (or desire) to cook, and they want a meal that won’t break the bank. We live in a world where we are used to using a computer, pad or phone to streamline most of our daily chores, so a self-serve kiosk (or mobile app) is comfortable to us. McDonalds understands their customer and how to use this insight to enhance the customer experience.

But McDonald’s knows that it’s not about the kiosk. As Justin Bariso points out in Forbes: “The new tech is only the surface. It’s about reaching people emotionally.” It’s about the experience, the journey.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CUSTOMER’S EXPERIENCE

I saw an ad from a social WiFi marketing company touting the data they collect on your customers from Facebook which includes:

Demographics

Page Likes

Location & Language

Facebook Usage

Purchase Activity

Great data for a brand but how useful is this generic data for a SOHO or small business looking to increase customer retention. After all, aren’t all 34 year old women who like to bike, who buy Lululemon, who work in sales and who log onto their FB page once a day, all the same? And does it really matter? Yes, according to the National Business Research Institute. The NBRI pointed to research conducted by Frederick Reichheld and W. Earl Sasser that revealed that when a companyretains just five percent more of its customers, profits increase by 25 percent to 125 percent!. And they found that the key to improving customer satisfaction comes from simply listening to the actual voice of the customer.

The NBRI wrote: “The only way to know the changes your company needs to make is to listen to the voices of your customers. Incorporating customer research into your marketing efforts is a wise investment that will result in a significant ROI.”

THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER IMPACTS THE BOTTOM LINE

The impact on the bottom line is tangible to any size business. Where it costs 4-10X more to acquire a new customer than retain a new one and where satisfied customers make 56% more visits.

“Research is the only universal best practice. The only way to know the changes your company needs to make is to listen to the voices of your customers. Incorporating customer research into your marketing efforts is a wise investment that will result in a significant ROI.” according “The Fallacy of Universal Best Practices.”

Your customers have a voice and most* are happy to tell what you want to know if you give them the chance. Use multiple channels to hear what your customers are saying, what they like (what they don’t) and what they want. Try implementing customer feedback as much as possible, through the WiFi you provide (Turnstyle Solutions, via email (Constant Contact or MailChimp) or through your mobile app. Add a CRM that captures every interaction you have with a customer, online and in your place of business. And, as simple as it sounds, ask them. Pick up the phone and randomly call your clients (especially those that left a poor review) learn who they are and listen to what they have to say.

Or you can listen to the group-speak voice of a generic group of 34 year old women who like to bike, who work out and who log onto their FB page once a day.

6.4.18. I am re-posting this article from LinkedIn. I actually sent this to a entrepreneur who had contacted me to help them turn an opportunity into a profitable venture. In defining the best path forward, this team was so focused on the WOW they were losing site of the fundamentals. It is in understanding the customer experience and using this knowledge to build fundamentals that will determine long-term success. Unfortunately, too many startups spend precious resources chasing the latest buzz, or the WOW. Unlike a pair of shoes, they might not have anything to show for it.

WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING TRENDS, DOES THE SHOE FIT?

“You need something exciting, something I haven’t seen before, because I am always looking for the next new product that will WOW me…at least until the next latest and greatest comes along.”

These words came from an experienced restaurateur who has been in this industry for more than four decades, with an amazing knack for promotion and marketing. To be honest, I was taken aback- not at his observation that what we were building wasn’t exciting or WOW enough, but why this was part of our discussion. Our mission is to turn new customers into repeats and repeat customers into advocates. We offer no new shiny toys, no exciting bells or whistles, only the delivery of demonstrably effective results for our customers. Restaurants, actually all businesses need to track trends, to know what is the ‘latest and greatest’ in product, culture, social media and operations. But isn’t the challenge in understanding the customer experience is to know when to adopt the trends, the WOW, and when to not to?

Of the many hats business owners wear, marketing in today’s world has to one of the most challenging. One restaurant executive told me that it used to be as simple as putting an ad in the paper. Today, owners and operators are told daily that they need to be blogging, pinning, tweeting, snapchatting and posting. One PR guru I follow wrote that one of her greatest challenges is dealing with the angst her clients feel every time a new social media platform appears (one of those ‘latest and greatest’). They fear that missing out will hurt their bottom line.

Stop and think of the best customer experience you have had recently- the over-the-top experience that stayed with you.

What do you remember about the experience? Was it the excellent food, the new item you bought or a delivery that went smoothly?

The data tells the story:

70% of buying experiences are based solely on how the customer feels they are being treated

73% become loyal to a company based on a friendly staff and great service

and my favorite:

80% of companies believe they deliver superior customer service…but only 8% of customers said they agree.

It (almost) always comes down to a person. An employee that uses their super powers to provide a memorable customer experience. That intangible feeling that leaves us with a desire for more.

What makes some employees super heroes? Some have the golden touch, but a stand out customer-centric, do-whatever-it-takes attitude doesn’t happen in a vacuum: it comes from companies that train, respect, trust and empower their employees.

Empowered employees are those employees who never utter those detested words “I will have to call a manager” or “please hold while I find someone who can help you” or “I am so sorry for your inconvenience” which is often the prelude to a migraine- mine! Employees who are allowed to make decisions even if that means making mistakes. As the CEO of Bonobos states:”Empowered to take care of customers in the moment.”

THE POWER OF TIME

I was online at a store, waiting to pay for a skirt. There was only one cashier and the person she was helping was arguing over a return. I asked another clerk if they could open a 2nd register, to be told that only the manager could authorize it and she, of course, was on a break. I put down my item as did 4 people behind me.

Empower to take care of customers in the moment: Imagine if this store had empowered their staff to check out their customers on their cell phone or a tablet. She could have walked over to the line and checked out those of us with 1-2 items, while we were waiting. Shorter lines for people with more items, 5 more purchases and 5 happy customers.

Every business can turn their team into customer experience super heroes. It takes a little imagination, a lot of determination and 3 simple steps:

Your elevator pitch is the most important piece of storytelling about your company you will ever do. And actually, you don’t need one pitch – you need many. Here’s where to start.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a Founder and a VC walk into an elevator…

In all seriousness, if you’ve spent any time swimming in the startup waters, you’re probably familiar with the idea of the elevator pitch. But in case you missed that day in Founder School, the scenario is this:

Say you got in an elevator, and standing in that elevator was the one person that could make or break your business. You have the length of that elevator ride to convince this person to get on board. And no, the electricity can’t suddenly cut out and leave you with a couple of hours to fill instead of a handful of seconds.

Well — What the @#*! do you say?

There’s a reason the elevator pitch has become such an icon of entrepreneurship. And it’s not because so many founders keep finding themselves in elevators with Mark Cuban.

Crafting the perfect elevator pitch is equal parts art and science. It’s an exercise in economy, and a master-class in making every word count. Most of all, an elevator pitch is about distilling the value of your company down to its absolute essence. And the ability to do that is crucial no matter who you’re talking to.

But let’s be real: You’re spending every waking hour of your life for months at a time trying to build this thing. Boiling all that blood, sweat, and tears down to a couple of words can feel like an impossible task. Right?

Wrong. In fact, writing a killer elevator pitch for your startup is more than possible – it’s essential. Your elevator pitch the most important piece of storytelling about your company you will ever do.

I was recently approached by a service company looking to develop messaging that would get heard. The company was growing but not enough to compete in their heavily crowded, competitive market.

After digging in, it became clear that their new customer acquisition was flat and they were too dependent on a few customers. The company had two challenges: to create a new story that highlighted it’s uniqueness and to discover a way to separate itself from its competitors.

A major challenge but one any company will relate to.

The first step was to review their services and team. It is hard for all of us to look into our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and it is no different with companies. What were the strengths and where were the weaknesses?

We started by speaking with all the stakeholders: owners, sales team, office staff and customer service reps. It is not uncommon for those with varying roles in the company to have different perspectives but in this case, there was a unanimity in their response. They talked about the technical tools that streamline their operations, the quality of the products they use and the training they provide their service personnel.

All excellent attributes but in this service game, nothing that differentiates them from their competitors.

I frequently speak with entrepreneurs who believe that their idea, or expansion, will be the next Ring or Uber. They are ready to start writing their business plan, seek funding and find their development team. Their passion is palatable which is why I do what I do, but finding out if the idea is, as Lori Grainer of Shark Tank fame, says “ a hero or a zero” at this stage, would save a lot of time and money.

If you have an idea or want to add a new product to your existing business, I recommend completing these 9+1 steps. The 9 steps are part of a Lean Canvas created by Lean Stack. Lean Canvas (see sample below) is a one page planning tool that will help you define your venture’s key metrics (customer segments, problem vs solution etc) that, when completed, will either be the foundation of a solid business or a clear indication to try again.

The +1 step at the end is my addition and will be the most important step of all.

9 STEPS TO SEE IF YOUR IDEA CAN BECOME A BUSINESS:

The Lean Canvas is a living document and it will continue to morph over time. It might be interesting to print each version and hang them up; the evolution will be fascinating.